Slimming—A Global Pursuit? Taiwanese pop star Jolin Tsai is widely admired for her singing talent—and for her slender build. The author of a best-selling diet book, Tsai often shares her weight-loss secrets with interviewers. The incidence of eating disorders in many Asian countries has skyrocketed in recent decades. Some researchers attribute this increase to the spread of Western ideals of beauty along with publicity about anorexia nervosa, a disease previously rare in these countries (Watters, 2010). “Slimming” diets, clinics, and drugs are a growing industry across Asia.

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